For the second straight game, the Calgary Flames fired 40+ shots on the opposition net, and for the second straight game the Flames went to extra time. In fact, for a second straight night, the Flames twice in regulation and had their game finish 3-2. Except on Monday night at home to Colorado, Calgary came out on the wrong side of the score. And for a second straight night, the Flames did almost everything right…except on this night, they didn’t win the game.
Calgary outshot the Avs 46-21 on Monday night, including 40-15 in the final 45 minutes of the game. But Craig Anderson was stellar, as he has been all season long, and it’s no stretch to say he stole the hockey game from the Flames. As a result, Calgary falls to 26-14-6 while the Avs improved to 26-15-6 on the season. But it’s clear the Flames were the better team on this night, and I think fans can be happy that for 2 straight games they stuck with the gameplan for a full 60 minutes. Once again, just like in Vancouver, there wasn’t any deviation or let-up from their plan and it payed dividends. They just couldn’t finish.
Captain Jarome Iginla was very quick to say that the Avalanche are NOT in Calgary’s ahead, this despite a 4-0 record against the Flames this year. Brent Sutter also scoffed at the notion, saying “we know who the better team was, #41 for them was the difference”.
The only scary thing is Calgary’s PP which continues to limp along. They have not scored on the man advantage in 5 straight games, going 0 for 14 in that time…they’ve scored just 3 powerplay goals in their last 11 games. That’s on 37 opportunities, at a very low 8.1%. Calgary plays Pittsburgh on Wednesday. Follow me on Twitter at www.twitter.com/Steinberg960.
Click here to subscribe to Steinberg's blog
